Companies may be intending to hire—63 percent of them in fact, as opposed to 56 percent in January 2013—but forecasts are still fairly prudent for what is ordinarily a more active quarter. A 20-percent drop in response rates, from the largest employers above all, makes gauging hiring prospects for the coming months more difficult. In this troublesome economic context, there are nonetheless three encouraging signs:

1. Over the last three months, more companies hired than forecasted they would in January:- 62 percent of companies recruited, whereas only 57 percent said they intended to.- 89 percent of the companies that did recruit in the last quarter will continue doing so over the next quarter.- Now, nearly 25 percent of companies, as opposed to only 15 percent in January, plan to do more hiring than before.

2. All industries, above all marketing, finance, consulting, legal services and purchasing, are seeing hiring. Positions in Europe are being created as a result of this hiring. ‘These job prospects abroad are excellent for the younger generations, which have a great interest in international careers’, says Manuelle Malot, director of careers and prospects at EDHEC Business School.

3. 94 percent of companies are firm in their commitments to higher education.

Every four months, the EDHEC Young Grads Job Survey gauges the hiring intentions of and actual hiring done by a sample of companies representing a variety of industries and management areas. It keeps students, recent graduates and employers alike abreast of job market trends. The survey is taken under the supervision of Manuelle Malot, director of careers and prospects at EDHEC Business School.Companies may be intending to hire—63 percent of them in fact, as opposed to 56 percent in January 2013—but forecasts are still fairly prudent for what is ordinarily a more active quarter. A 20-percent drop in response rates, from the largest employers above all, makes gauging hiring prospects for the coming months more difficult. In this troublesome economic context, there are nonetheless three encouraging signs:

1. Over the last three months, more companies hired than forecasted they would in January:

- 89 percent of the companies that did recruit in the last quarter will continue doing so over the next quarter.

- Now, nearly 25 percent of companies, as opposed to only 15 percent in January, plan to do more hiring than before.

2. All industries, above all marketing, finance, consulting, legal services and purchasing, are seeing hiring. Positions in Europe are being created as a result of this hiring. ‘These job prospects abroad are excellent for the younger generations, which have a great interest in international careers’, says Manuelle Malot, director of careers and prospects at EDHEC Business School

3. 94 percent of companies are firm in their commitments to higher education.

Every four months, the EDHEC Young Grads Job Survey gauges the hiring intentions of and actual hiring done by a sample of companies representing a variety of industries and management areas. It keeps students, recent graduates and employers alike abreast of job market trends. The survey is taken under the supervision of Manuelle Malot, director of careers and prospects at EDHEC Business School.

About EDHEC

Operating from campuses in Lille, Nice, Paris, London and Singapore, EDHEC is one of the world’s top 20 business schools. Fully international and directly connected to the business world, EDHEC is a school for business, rather than a business school, where excellence in teaching and research focuses on innovation to stimulate entrepreneurship and creativity. For business from birth and dedicated to business, EDHEC makes entrepreneurs for life, able to remodel or create successful businesses wherever they work.EDHEC functions as a genuine laboratory of ideas and produces innovative solutions valued by businesses. The School’s teaching philosophy, inspired by its award-winning research activities, focuses on “learning by doing”.